The Guadeloupean Jacques Martial died on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday in Paris at the age of 69, following a long illness. Since the announcement of his death, reactions have multiplied to pay tribute to this man of theater, cinema, but also of politics.
Face known to the general public, especially for its role in the Navarro police series, Jacques Martial died on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday as a result of a long illness. His funeral should take place on Wednesday August 20, at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. This disappearance arouses many reactions. On her Instagram account, Anne Hidalgo praised the memory of the one she described as her “ami“, He who was his assistant in charge of overseas since 2022. The mayor of Paris writes:”Jacques liked to describe the overseas not as the end of the world, but as the end of France. He invited us to look at and love France from overseas, windows open on other continents and on the world. “
“Committed, he devoted his life to the fight against racism, to the memory of slavery and to the valuation of ultramarine artists”she continues.“We owe him many emblematic projects, such as the statue of solitude, the Toussaint Louverture garden or the statue of Paulette Nardal rue de la Chapelle”, she recalls.
At the Paris town hall, his colleagues also pay tribute to him. On social networks, we can find testimonies like that of the deputy and advisor to Paris Emmanuel Grégoire. “He was especially for me a friend whose departure leaves me an infinite sadness. All my thoughts go to his family and his loved ones“, He writes on X.
Audrey Pulvar, assistant to the mayor of Paris in charge of sustainable food, agriculture and short circuits, recalls his meeting with “son Guadeloupe big brother“, Twenty years ago.”We often teased. I told him ‘you are Guadeloupe, nobody is perfect.’ And I was her little Martinican sister. (…) It was a solar being and he was a giant, physically and in his attitude and his commitments“She says.
His cinema friends also pay tribute to him. This is particularly the case of Guadeloupean Firmine Richard, with whom he collaborated in the Wish series in Guadeloupe. “”Jacques is one of those who represented the West Indians in the cinema, he marked an entire generation. […] The death of a man like Jacques touches everyone. We still had projects, so it hurts“, She confesses.
The overseas community cries this emblematic man. “”Jacques Martial, he was a man who worked for the overseas community. We lose someone who at the cultural level has done a lot of things, as being president of the Memorial Act in Guadeloupe “reacted the West Indian Samuel Fereol assistant assistant to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Associative Militant. “”It was for me one of the first blacks that I saw playing the role of policeman, […] It was striking for us, a West Indian cop. It is my memory that I have of this gentleman“He recalls.